Everybunny Needs a Friend

A new day. Kinda looks like the old one, the sun is a bright red disk, the sky an unappetizing yellow brown. Ashes are still falling. I can’t bear to post another photo of the awfulness. I sit by the air purifier, which is not showing any red bars, so that’s good. Not too hot, and I think some fog may be in, because the weather station shows a rain cloud! 


As the day goes on the evac warnings get closer and closer, the air gets thicker. We have an errand about half an hour south, where miraculously there is no ash all over the ground, no hideous smell. We stand on the cliffs by the ocean for a few minutes. Although it doesn’t look very pleasant, it’s a different world from home. We think maybe we should come here tomorrow and spend the day. Maybe this bunny girl will come back with a different hat. Can you see her, sweet thing in a bunny hat, sitting by the ocean with her friend...


Then we think we should evacuate altogether before they make it mandatory. We spend a lot of time trying to find a place for the cats, although a friend assures us it is easy to sneak them into a hotel. I can’t imagine going anywhere with our cats. They eat furniture. They howl. We try to decide whether to run or not. My son says he will come and check on them if we leave them at home; he, along with many others, still think the fire won’t get to town. He says we should just go somewhere for a couple days and relax, get away from this foul air and tension. We need to decide what to do. 
And we have it easy. Many many people have already lost everything. No one can fathom how it will end. Covid seems like a child’s game now. We are ready to stay in a hotel, whereas last week it was unthinkable.